On the third day after the escape from Cicero the forest began to thin, its place now taken by isolated copses of ironwood and tamarack dotting the shoulders of low, rolling hills. Late that afternoon Grantin, Chom, and Castor crested yet another gentle rise and received their first glimpse of their objective.
The land fell away in an easy slope for a mile or two, at last opening on a fertile basin widening five or ten miles distant into a lush, forested plain. At the far border of the forest a huge rock escarpment, at least a two miles in diameter and almost a mile high, reared upward. The forest halted half a mile from the base of the cliff, as if the soil there were poisoned. The narrow band of yellow-brown earth which encircled the edges of the tower created a no-man's land.
Chom strained his telescopic vision but was able to discern few details. The Fanist reported pockmarks in the cliff which might be caves. They could not see the lake itself. None of the travelers doubted, however, that in the center of the tower was a great depression filled with water and centered with a barren island within might or might not be Zaco's mine.
"We will camp here tonight and tomorrow press on to the lake," Castor announced. "Assuming we can discover the trail used by Zaco's men, we should be able to reach the rim by tomorrow evening."
"And what do we do when we get there?" Grantin asked peevishly.
"If Shenar's spell can be removed from Chom, then between the three of us we have great powers. I suggest that we pool our abilities in the creation of one great spell."
"I did not realize. Castor, that you were an accomplished sorcerer."
"Before my dispute with the Gogols I was a senior empather on Hazar's staff. I have been trained to link my consciousness with the state of the psychic energy around me. Beyond that I carry with me my family's treasure, a source stone, which allows the projection of my spells in a manner similar to that employed by your ring."
Somewhat reluctantly Castor opened the pouch strapped to his waist and extracted a small bundle of silky white cloth. With delicate fingers the Ajaj unwound the material to reveal the milky green cube of his source stone.
"We may yet prove more formidable than we appear."
Grantin had not forgotten the blue gem hidden beneath the skin on Chom's forehead and cast a sly glance at the Fanist's impassive form. For a few seconds Chom remained silent, pondering whether or not to reveal his own treasure. At last, with an imperceptible shrug, he reached his decision. Using all four arms, he kneaded the skin of his forehead until the two layers of the flap split. Chom peeled the tough gray hide upward to reveal an electric-blue stone seated in a hollow in the homey flesh. The Fanist grasped the gem with two fingers of his lower right hand and delicately pried it loose.
"This," he said, holding out the blue marble in the hollow of his right palm, "is the companion given to me by my people in aid of my quest. Were it not for the awesome consequences which could flow from the failure of our mission, I could not allow you to know of it, but the fate of all the humans and possibly all of my people hangs upon our success. Should we survive I beg you not to reveal our secret."
"Should we survive? Do you mean you've come all the way out here assuming that we are going to be killed?"
"That seems to be the most likely possibility," Chom admitted, "but of course we have no choice."
"No choice! I have a choice. I am in the prime of my life! We could still escape back across the Guardian Mountains. Perhaps the Gogol attack will fail after all. At the very least we could alert the Hartford soldiers. The more I think about it, the more I think we would be better advised to employ all of the powers we possess to defend the Hartford homeland rather than in a gallant but suicidal attack on Zaco's stronghold."
"No, the Gogols would merely delay their plans. They might wait a month or a year, but sooner or later, if allowed to continue to mine the stones, they would equip an invincible army. We must sacrifice ourselves if necessary to stop them."
Grantin threw his hands up in impotent frustration. Less than a mile away, Rupert and Yon Diggery also debated their course of action, but with vastly different goals.
"I say we should attack them now, take the ring, and be done with it," Rupert argued.
"Rupert, you must learn patience. When you have lived by your wits as long as I have, you will learn to plan your attack so as to obtain the greatest reward possible. What do we gain if we defeat them now?"
"Vengeance upon those who have destroyed your associates."
"My associates, as you so politely call them, would have cut my throat in a second had they thought they could get away with it and make a profit on the enterprise. Don't worry about them. There are plenty of freebooters back in Grenitch Wood."
"Don't forget the ring."
"Rupert, there is one ring and two of us. Assuming we kill them, the next thing that would happen is that you would kill me or I would kill you. Do not be so anxious to become my enemy. Think a moment Where are they going?"
"Obviously they have some sort of mission. Perhaps there is a place up ahead for them to hide."
"If they wanted to hide there is no better place than Grenitch Wood. Out here they are ten times more vulnerable. And why even stay in the Gogol empire at all? The Fanist knows the passes through the mountains."
"Very well, Diggery, you tell me-what are they doing out here?"
"Have you ever asked yourself, Rupert, where the bloodstone in that ring came from? It had to come from somewhere, didn't it? You worked for Hazar. Where did he get his stones?"
"From Zaco."
"Very good; and where did Zaco get them?"
"He has a mine someplace."
"Someplace?"
"Someplace northwest of Cicero. Do you mean- You think that's where they're going?"
"See! I knew if you thought about it hard enough you'd come to the right conclusion. All this time they've made straight for Grog Cup Lake. What better place to get a powerstone than from such a site?"
"Very well, assume you're right. Suppose they are going to Zaco's mine. What good does that do us?"
"Rupert, think about it for a moment. They're going to break the trail for us. They're going to take all the risks. Let them go. Let them do our work. We will follow quietly behind. If they succeed in destroying Zaco's guards, we'll surprise them and take all the stones for ourselves. If they fail, they may still have weakened the defenses enough for us to complete what they've started. Now do you understand why we're not going to attack them tonight?"
"Very well. I agree to give them a day or so longer. But understand me, Yon Diggery. No matter what else happens, within the next two days I am going to see that Hartford dead."